![](https://wehoonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/torncity.png)
During discussions, I suggested reaching out to diverse stakeholders to overcome intimidation felt by some community members from City Council. I mentioned the Log Cabin Republicans. A participant flippantly remarked, “Don’t we have enough problems? We should just drown those people.” I responded calmly, “I know you’re joking, but we don’t drown people for different political opinions.” The moderators were shocked but quickly moved on.
This incident, while a small “microaggression,” highlights how commonplace dismissive remarks have become for those outside the progressive Democrat monolith dominating West Hollywood politics. I didn’t dwell on it.
Two days later, the world was stunned by an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. While details were emerging, the political environment was clear. For nearly a decade, Democratic leaders have labeled Trump an existential threat to democracy, while privately admitting the claim is exaggerated. Major NGOs like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU long ago shifted their fundraising strategy to align with this narrative. Even President Biden declared “MAGA Republicans” as effectively enemies of the state, vilifying half the voting population.
In West Hollywood, one of the nation’s most progressive cities, we haven’t been spared these theatrics.
As one of West Hollywood’s most outspoken independent voices, I’ve often stood alone on third rail issues like medical freedom, anti-war and civil liberties. Even community leaders with years of Democrat-aligned achievements like Mikkie Friedman, Steve Martin, Alan Strasburg and Larry Block have been maligned by a small clique of “new puritans,” branded with pejoratives like “hate mongers” and “racist/sexist/transphobic.”
With a history in third-party political organizing, I’ve always rejected the anti-intellectualism cultivated by the political duopoly. Early in my career, I worked extensively on human trafficking prevention, working across partisan lines to create change for at-risk populations. This often meant collaborating with right-leaning religious organizations while leading progressive sex worker rights groups to achieve our goals. These formative experiences shaped me as a leader capable of bridging divides.
However, my willingness to work across partisan lines often made me a target, especially among the most stringent “progressive” ideologues.
Last year, West Hollywood witnessed political violence when a conservative activist was attacked by an antifa-aligned assailant. The incident, caught on video, quickly went viral. Yet when I brought it up at the next City Council meeting, I was met with indifference. After the suspects’ arrests at Weho Pride, with many more serious charges dropped by the DA’s office, I interviewed the victim about seeking justice amid West Hollywood’s political leadership’s indifference.
This interview, republished by WehoOnline, was well-received. However, an antifa-aligned publication from Berkeley soon wrote a hit piece branding me a “neo-Nazi sympathizer” and maligning WehoOnline. This smear campaign has continued to cause problems for me as the producer of a nightly news program on KPFK Pacifica Radio, the oldest and most progressive independent radio network in the country.
Despite the inconveniences and sometimes threats of real physical violence that come with deviating from the party line, I’ve seen hope for building bridges where it once seemed impossible.
Earlier this year, I reached out to the Stonewall Democrats to cover an event for my news program. I was accidentally cc’d on an email warning their leadership not to talk to me because I was an “antivaxxer, q-anon, anti-trans person.” Despite my extensive work with top anti-human trafficking agencies and my lived experience as a former transgender-identifying person, these labels stuck.
Once the Stonewall Democrats realized their mistake, their leadership agreed to meet. Despite my initial suspicions, we found common ground and developed a sincere rapport. A few weeks later at Weho Pride, I found myself in friendly conversations with them, even amid heated debates. It was a rare moment of civility after years of caustic discourse in West Hollywood.
In that spirit, I’ve connected with groups like the Log Cabin Republicans, who have embraced me as an independent. Last election cycle, I was pleased when Lauren Meister and Jordan Cockeram initially agreed to speak at a Log Cabin Republican event, only to back out after slight pushback. I can understand the pressure they might have felt as candidates during an election year. Still, it was a missed opportunity to diffuse tensions and serve all West Hollywood constituents, not just the “in-crowd”.
In the aftermath of Trump’s assassination attempt, diffusing local tensions is more crucial than ever.
Nothing personal West but I don’t see how your experience and background is going to help the city solve its issues with crime or create jobs or affordable housing so people can afford to live in West Hollywood or help businesses survive the high cost of doing business in West Hollywood. I have no doubt your experience provides insight to city leaders but you have a very limited resume. You seem better suited for specific commissions that require your type of expertise or adding your voice at city council meetings. Just my opinion.
No offense taken at all! The campaign is a chance to share my work with a wider audience. I began my career in community organizing as a teenager and have been building grassroots movements for nearly two decades. I’ve worked extensively with homeless and substance-using populations, creating research and hard policy on those issues. After moving to West Hollywood eight years ago, I’ve applied for the public safety commission, disability advisory board, and human services commission. As a natural leader in movements like MeToo and sex worker rights, I was quickly labeled a “troublemaker” by the local political clique for… Read more »
“creating research and hard policy on those issues”
What specifically? Hard policy? Show us
Here are a few research projects/policy briefs I’ve co-authored.
https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_socal_kyr_sex_worker_rights_sb233_ab5.pdf
https://chprc.org/publications/health-outcomes-associated-with-criminalization-and-regulation-of-sex-trade/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susie-Baldwin-3/publication/344989335_Building_a_Community_Coalition_to_Address_Massage_Worker_Rights_and_Health_in_Los_Angeles_County_American_Public_Health_Association_Annual_Meeting_2020/links/5f9bb43c92851c14bcf2df57/Building-a-Community-Coalition-to-Address-Massage-Worker-Rights-and-Health-in-Los-Angeles-County-American-Public-Health-Association-Annual-Meeting-2020.pdf
This comment actually made me laugh out loud. LOVE it hahah
Wow, a lot here to try to digest and try to understand. I just wish we had candidates that talked about real city issues like how do we get a bunch of stalled projects going again, how do we get the Sheriff to prioritize weho on getting more officers, how do we handle the homeless now that the Supreme Court said we can make overnight camping illegal, how do we handle the needs of a workforce with the needs of business owners.
Lindsey Horvath says she is going to ignore the Supreme Court ruling ….. because she is smarter than them.
Lindsey Horvath does not control the homeless policy for the city or West Hollywood. I, for one, would like to hear from the six candidates currently running if they will use the new ability to ticket and arrest homeless people camping overnight in the city of West Hollywood.
I have read it a half dozen times and can’t make heads or tales of what he is trying to say
Sounds like you already have a dog in the fight, it would be helpful to know who that is. Can you outlaw the flu? The Supreme court was just paving the way for fascistic solutions, to the problems of late capitalism. According to one well-informed economist, for every body sleeping on the streets – there’s two empty units. So what we have is less of a supply crisis, and more of an affordability crisis. The answer is either to decriminalize squatting – or to establish a deliberately onerous tax on empty units. The Supreme Court decision in Grant’s Pass was… Read more »
I simply cannot wait for the debates. Sometimes, it’s nearly impossible to turn away from a car crash.
I hear the writers from SNL will fly out to watch them………………….
Okay. There is a lot here. There is so much that contradicts: previously trans-identifying, anti trans, medical freedom , antivaxxer, q-anon, anti-human trafficking. What are you attempting to say? Just say it, stop prefacing and say it. This kind of non communication is not needed on the West Hollywood city council. Spit it out or get out of the race. There’s already to much bullsh•t in West Hollywood already.
I’m opposed to medicalization of “trans kids”. Most children identifying as trans that don’t go through medicalization eventually grow out of it. The Cass review showed significant harms to children taking puberty blockers, leading many European countries to abandon the practice as a first response. Weho should not be advancing these experimental protocols for children as a cause celeb. My experience as someone who detransitioned has given me unique insight into this issue. I’m opposed to human trafficking (as we all are), but with a special focus on “out-of-reach” perpetrators. For too long, West Hollywood has harbored serial predators with… Read more »
Oh yes, the poor trumpies. Doing nothing but spreading sunshine and rainbows while baking pies for orphans and helping little old ladies cross the street. Spare me. At least this little diatribe and especially the comments tell me who not to vote for.
Hardly a Diatribe – this was a call to common decency, and common sense. Sadly, not all got the point, or share the insights in the column. If your mind is made up, regardless of what’s said – then clearly, West was right on-target. Keeping people divided and hateful towards one another, is a common strategy for ruling over people. True leaders unite people, however. While the (currently missing) former Democratic Party Presidential candidate loved using aphorisms about ‘Democracy vs. Autocracy’… It was increasingly hard to tell, which side of the question he fell-on. His colony in Ukraine has outlawed… Read more »
Now, … let’s talk about Israel.
Let’s…. Sadly – the American political system, and both branches of the Monoparty for (Nuclear) war and Empire are completely under the sway of Zionism – which is rejected by Torah-Faithful Jews like the Satmars and the Neturei Karta. A Genocidal War Criminal and psychopath is going to be addressing Congress Wednesday night. It would be refreshing if Americans from all sides of the political spectrum, faiths and walks of life would rise up, and demand that their political leaders end this Kabuki theater and their unconscionable support, for this racist and ethno-Supremacist outpost of our NeoColonial Empire. The change… Read more »
“West Seegmiller is a national policy researcher and local advocate for survivors of labor abuse and human trafficking. He is a Co-Founder of the Free WeHo Coalition, http://www.FreeWeho.com“
My question, appropriate since you’re running for office; how do you make a living?
Hey! I usually ask that question myself. I’d also like to ask many other people in WeHo that same question.
Fair question! Most of my paid work has been in HIV clinical research and human trafficking policy research, as well as non-profit development. I exited the sex industry nearly 8 years ago (in case you’re wondering)
What is your job now? Do you receive a paycheck, and if so, from whom?
With his inimitable eloquence and with nearly unmatched intellectual rigor, West provides a brilliant analysis of what is broken in our once-fair hamlet. Toxic ideological brain rot continues its attempt at drowning out diversity of thought. Those who dare question the intolerant extreme are subjected to name-calling and worse. Like you, I have been recently subjected to a rather venomous character assassination by anonymous forces impersonating me with emails under my name. Anonymity exacerbates the incivility exponentially as one often sees in the comments in these pages. It has all become a pernicious malignancy on civil discourse.
Thanks Alan! Much respect 🫡
Alan, be honest, did you ghost write this? It has your verbose word salad tendencies all over it.
He’s an outright anti semite, concerning you would write words of praise. Tsk tsk..
West Hollywood: A place where all are accepted and celebrated. No one is marginalized – – unless one don’t follow the approved script. You will then not be accepted and will indeed will be vilified. “Whatever something purports itself to be, very often the opposite is true” (Marianne Williamson).
Wise words!